Rekindling
by Pen and Paper71
Summary: Whatever may come, true love never really dies away. Sometimes all that is needed is a little push to reveal what has always been there. Phoenix/Iris. Oneshot. AJ/GS4 spoilers.


A/N- This story is set a couple days after the fourth case in Apollo Justice. A very special thank you goes to Writer Awakened and Xero Wright for proofing this for me. All comments are highly valued, so please review.

Disclaimer: I do not own Phoenix Wright or anything associated with it. This story was written for my own amusement and for the enjoyment of anyone who decides to read it.

"Daddy! Daddy! Daddy, wake up!"

His excitable daughter's voice interrupting his nap, Phoenix groaned softly, his eyes slowly fluttering open. After coming to the realization that he wouldn't be able to get any more rest until he dealt with her, he pushed himself into a sitting position on the couch and turned to face his daughter as he fought back a yawn.

"Somethin' wrong, Trucy?"

"Nah, nothing is wrong. You have a phone call, though," Trucy responded brightly. "She said it was important that she talks to you." Trucy giggled softly as she placed the phone in his hand, looking particularly pleased.

"She?" Phoenix asked, glancing at his daughter as he took the phone from her. "Who is it?"

Giggling again, Trucy tapped her hat gently. "Just remember that you need to find me a mommy at some point, so you need to be nice." With that said, Trucy turned away from her bewildered father and skipped down the hallway to Phoenix's room.

Still confused by her words and surprised to see her walk into his room, Phoenix hesitated as he debated whether to check on his often mischievous daughter before or after answering the call. The sound of a familiar male voice, strengthened by hours of voice training, made up Phoenix's mind for him; Apollo would be able to keep her in check—at least temporarily—while he took this call. Putting the phone to his ear, Phoenix said, "Hello?"

"Hello. Feenie, is that you?"

A wide smile spread across his face at the woman's sweet voice and the familiar nickname. "Hey, Iris." Glancing down the hallway again, Phoenix sighed. He was well aware that he would have to have a serious talk to Trucy later if he was going to keep her fantasies from getting out of control. There were times that she could be as bad as Pearls about this kind of stuff. "It's good to hear from you. What's up?"

"I was hoping we could perhaps meet for a late lunch," Iris responded cheerfully. Hesitating for a moment, Iris added, "Of course, only if you have the time."

"Sounds like fun. I have a free afternoon and I'd love to see you," Phoenix reassured her quickly. "When do you want to meet and where?"

"Fifteen minutes at that new deli that opened up near your office sound okay?" Iris asked.

"That should work," Phoenix said, after mentally calculating how long it would take to walk from his apartment to the deli. There were certainly benefits to living so close to his office. After exchanging their goodbyes, Phoenix hung up the phone and walked down the hall to his room. He was still curious about why Apollo and Trucy would be in there, and furthermore, if he didn't let his daughter know that he was going out, she'd never let him hear the end of it.

As he looked into the room, Phoenix bit back a laugh, but couldn't contain the smirk that formed on his face as he took in the scene. Trucy stood in front of the closet, tossing clothes over her shoulder haphazardly as she searched for something, with Apollo standing behind her, protesting vehemently: protests which only increased as one of Phoenix's old sweaters landed on young Mr. Justice's head.

After clearing his throat loudly to get the pair's attention, Phoenix said, "My, my. May I ask why you two are making a mess out of my room?" His smirk widened. "Well, more of a mess then usual, anyway."

"Oh, Daddy!" Trucy chirped as she turned to face her father, clutching one of his nicer shirts in her hand. "I was looking for one of your ties for Apollo. And you don't need to worry about the mess. Polly and I will clean this place up after we're done." Her last comment elicited a loud groan from Apollo, who now leaned against the wall.

Phoenix's eyebrows flicked up in surprise. "One of my ties?" Although he had learned long ago never to try to predict Trucy, her response did manage catch him a bit off-guard. He hadn't even considered that she might be looking for a tie. "Why would you need one of my ties?"

"Oh, well, Apollo and I had a snack while you were napping, but he was messy and got some of it all over his tie. Since he was cranky about it, I figured he could use one of yours," Trucy said as she resumed her search through the closet.

"Trucy, just forget it! This isn't important!" Apollo insisted intensely, his face bright red by this point. Grabbing Trucy's wrist gently, he tried to lead the girl away from the open closet, but found it much harder than he expected as Trucy stubbornly refused to follow. Turning briefly to Phoenix, he added. "Don't worry about this, Mr. Wright. We'll get this cleaned up and—"

"What do you mean 'not important'?" Trucy demanded, interrupting Apollo, placing her hands on her hips, scoffing playfully. "You were the one all upset about your dirty tie. This will fix everything!"

"No need to be a spoilsport, Apollo," Phoenix teased, walking over to the closet. "Might be good to give one of my old ties an airing-out. They don't get much use these days." Reaching toward the back of the closet, Phoenix finally managed to locate the hanger holding his ties. "It's even red, so it'll complete that overripe-tomato look you have going there." Phoenix smirked as he handed one of the ties to Apollo.

"So I like red. It is not a crime to like red!" Apollo retorted, throwing his hands up in exasperation. With a sigh of defeat, Apollo pulled off his soiled green tie and looped on Phoenix's red one. He was ready to concede just about anything to pacify the Wrights.

Chuckling softly, Phoenix looked back and forth at the pair. "I'm heading out. Do you think you two can behave while I'm gone?"

"I-I think we can manage it," Apollo said, his face somehow managing to get even redder at Phoenix's teasing.

"You're going out? Where are you going?" Trucy asked excitedly. Phoenix knew his daughter well enough to realize that she had recognized Iris's voice on the phone and at least suspected that he was going to meet her.

Phoenix's mind wandered to the past as he watched his daughter lovingly. For the last six years, he and Iris had been a steady couple. Certainly there had been problems at times, but they had always managed to iron them out. But things changed about a year ago when suddenly the fights started taking longer to resolve and the compromises became harder to find.

It was after one particularly bad argument that they had both agreed that they needed to take a break from romance, a decision that had not been met with Trucy's approval. Although he and Iris had remained friendly even after their break up, Iris's role in Trucy's life had inevitably shifted from surrogate mother to family friend.

In time, Trucy had managed to adapt to the new dynamic, but it hurt her, he knew, and it haunted Phoenix. It was for this reason that he still hadn't told his daughter that he and Iris had decided to give their relationship another try. He couldn't bring himself to get Trucy's hopes up only to see her disappointed again if things fell through. Iris had understood completely when he had explained the situation to her. Trucy had been through enough disappointment in her short life.

Biting his lip as he stared at his daughter (who still waited eagerly for his answer), he debated how he should respond. Although over the past seven years he had managed to reduce the number of nervous tics that might betray him to his perceptive daughter, Phoenix still hated to lie to Trucy even if he was doing so to protect her. Very few things flew over her head, anyway. Turning the question over in his mind, he finally made his decision. "Yeah," he smiled at Trucy. "I'm meeting a friend for lunch. I shouldn't be gone too long."

Not willing to let the issue go, Trucy opened her mouth to question further, but was interrupted by Apollo.

Always the type of person who preferred order to disarray, Apollo had already started to clean up the messy room while Phoenix and Trucy had been talking. Much to his surprise, in the course of his cleaning, he had stumbled upon a bright pink, fluffy sweater. This not being the sort of thing that he'd expected Phoenix to own, Apollo held it up to get a better look at it and spotted a "P" written on the front of the sweater.

"What's this thing?" Apollo asked, holding it out so that Phoenix could see it.

Although pleased that Apollo had managed to distract his persistent daughter, Phoenix was surprised to see that old sweater again. He hadn't worn the sweater since his college years, but Iris's gift still held special significance to him. The gaudy but wonderful thing held precious memories, memories of trials and hardships melting away to reveal their undying love and faith.

Apollo, his curiosity only enhanced by Phoenix's unusual silence, spoke up again. "Uh, Mr. Wright?"

"Huh?" Phoenix asked, glancing up at Apollo again as his mind came back on track. "Oh, that thing? It's nothing. Just a sweater."

"It's pink," Apollo pointed out. Looking up and down his mentor's attire, he added, "I just can't imagine you ever wearing this thing."

Chuckling softly, Phoenix said, "It was a gift from someone very important to me. I used to wear it all the time."

"Oh, who's it from?" Apollo asked. Phoenix rarely talked about his past, but his stories were always well worth a listen when he was convinced to tell them.

Crossing her arms thoughtfully, Trucy cocked her head sideways, watching Phoenix. "You know, now that I think about it, I think I remember that sweater. I can't quite place it, though."

"That sweater lived well before your time, Trucy." Phoenix laughed, taking the sweater from Apollo. Falling silent again as he glanced at the sweater for another moment, Phoenix finally came to a decision and tucked the sweater under his arm. Much to Apollo's annoyance, Phoenix opted not to answer his question before saying goodbye to them both.

Phoenix paused at the door to his office. He stripped off his heavy sweatshirt and replaced it with the cherished sweater. After then throwing on a light jacket and straightening his blue hat, Phoenix left the apartment and walked to the predetermined meeting spot. A quick glance at his watch caused Phoenix to quicken his pace. It had taken him longer to get out of the apartment than he originally planned; he didn't want to leave Iris waiting if he could help it.

Breathing a sigh of relief as he arrived in front of the deli, Phoenix let himself in and scanned the small restaurant for Iris. He smiled as he spotted her sitting near the far wall, dressed in a white blouse and long purple skirt, reading a book as she waited patiently for him. "There you are, Rissy," Phoenix greeted her as he reached the table. "I'm sorry I'm late. I hope you weren't waiting too long."

Iris's eyes lit up when she saw Phoenix standing in front of her and, after setting down her book, she stood up to greet him with a kiss. "Don't worry about it," Iris said, smiling contently at him. "I only sat down a few moments ago."

Phoenix nodded and hung his jacket on the back of his chair. Iris's eyes widened and she rewarded him with a beautiful smile as she recognized the old sweater. "Have you ordered yet, then?" Phoenix asked as he sat down in the chair across from her, attempting to be nonchalant as he watched Iris's reaction carefully. At seeing how much pleasure this simple gesture had given her, Phoenix felt immensely happy that he had worn the sweater.

Stricken silent by the sweater's resurfacing, Iris stared for a few moments. "N-no. Not yet. I wanted to wait for you," Iris answered as she finally found her tongue. A gentle smile still on her face, Iris said, "I-I didn't realize that you still had that sweater. I gave it to you so long ago."

"Of course I still have it," Phoenix smiled. "It is a beautiful sweater, after all. I haven't seen anything finer, not even in a store!"

A slight blush crossed Iris's cheeks, extremely pleased and a bit embarrassed by his praise. "I'm glad you like it," Iris said softly, her eyes sparkling.

They both took a few minutes to contemplate the menu, then Phoenix called over their waiter over and they placed their order. After the waiter had left them, Phoenix turned back to Iris and asked, "So how have your students been?"

After leaving Hazakura Temple all those years ago, Iris had run into problems trying to figure out what to do with herself. She hadn't required much education to complete her duties at the temple, but this lack of education had left her at a disadvantage once she had left there. It had been at Phoenix's suggestion that Iris returned to school and eventually received her teaching degree. Ever since then, Iris had been employed at a local school as a kindergarten teacher.

"They're all doing so well," Iris announced proudly. "You should have seen them the other day. I taught them all about the different shapes and they caught on so quickly. They're all so smart!" Iris gushed. She paused for a moment to take a sip of water from her cup, then asked, "So how are you, Trucy, and, oh, um…" Iris hesitated. Glancing at him sheepishly, she said, "Your student, is what I'm trying to say. I can't for the life of me remember his name at the moment."

"His name is Apollo. Apollo Justice," Phoenix supplied promptly with a grin.

"Oh, that's right. Apollo. Thank you," Iris responded brightly. "So how are you, Trucy, and Apollo doing? I talked to Trucy earlier, but she seemed in an awful hurry to put you on the phone." Shooting Phoenix a questioning look, Iris asked, "Is something wrong?"

Laughing softly, Phoenix shook his head. "No, nothing is wrong, but I think she suspects that we're back together. Long story." He nodded a thank you to the waiter as his coffee was set down beside him. After mixing some cream into the coffee and blowing on it gently, he took an experimental sip.

"Oh dear," Iris laughed. "It still seems a bit soon to tell her though. I wonder how she figured it out. It isn't like my calling is anything new and we haven't even been going out that long."

"Trucy's always been very smart and very perceptive," Phoenix responded. "Now that I think about it, I wouldn't be surprised she figured out based on the increased number of calls. We used to talk a few times a week, but since we've started dating we're up to talking at least once a day, if not more. I probably should have given this whole situation more consideration at the start. That possibility honestly hadn't occurred to me before. I do agree that it's still too soon to tell her anything, though." Glancing at Iris playfully, he added, "We clearly need to be sneakier."

"Clearly," Iris agreed with a teasing smile. Hesitating for a moment, Iris's smile faded for a moment as she toyed with the straw in her water cup, clearly troubled by something.

Surprised by Iris's reaction, Phoenix placed his hand gently on top of her free hand. "Iris? Is something wrong?"

At the feel of his touch, Iris glanced up at him and swallowed hard as she gathered her thoughts. "Speaking of calls..." Iris started, her voice soft, "I've barely heard from you in the past couple days. You haven't tried to contact me at all since that trial. That's unusual. I've been worried about you."

"Oh," Phoenix said, unsure how to respond. His eyes dropped to the table and he withdrew his hand as he tried to gather his thoughts. It was true that he had been avoiding her for the past couple days. It wasn't just her he was avoiding either. Since the conclusion of Vera's trial, he had been avoiding all his old friends. Although he was thrilled by the result of the trial, it been physically and emotionally trying for him and he was still having trouble figuring out how to cope with the case's myriad revelations. Not wanting to trouble Iris, he paused to take another sip of his coffee and forced a smile.

"I'm sorry, Rissy. The past week has been particularly busy, but I certainly didn't mean to worry you. I'll be more careful in the future."

Knowing him well, Iris was not fooled by his act. Not wanting to upset him, Iris decided to start with an easy question before going into the harder ones. "How is Ms. Misham doing? The paper mentioned that she had survived, but I couldn't find any other details on her condition."

"Yeah, that was on purpose," Phoenix confirmed, relaxing a bit as he spoke. "She's been through enough in the past week. I didn't want her traumatized by a bunch of strangers arriving on her doorstep without warning, so I requested the clinic to keep quiet about her condition. She's doing better. I checked in on her yesterday and she seemed well. I know that Apollo's also been spending a lot of time with her since her release."

"That's good to hear," Iris said cheerfully, very happy to hear that the young woman was doing well. Hesitating for a moment, she pushed on with a slightly harder question before she could change her mind. "So what happens now? For you I mean?"

"Good news on that front," Phoenix smiled. "The judicial review board looked over my case and agreed to clear my record, so it'd be possible for me to take the Bar Exam again and regain my badge. I haven't decided yet, and I'd have to start from the bottom of the ladder, but…I think I just might try for it again."

"That's wonderful news! I'm so happy for you, Feenie!" Iris cried out, thrilled by the answer. She knew how much Phoenix missed being a defense attorney. Her joy was short-lived though, curtailed by the sadness she could still see present in his eyes. "So, what's bothering you then?"

Glancing up at her in surprise, he was quick to protest. "I told you, nothing is bothering me. Why should anything still be bothering me? Everything worked out after all."

"But something is still wrong," Iris concluded, refusing to let the topic drop. "It's not just me you haven't called in the last couple days. You've refused to take my calls as well. Not to mention that I've spoken with Maya, Miles, and Franziska. They all say that you've been avoiding them as well since that trial ended. I know that something is going on here, Feenie. I just want to help. Please tell me what's wrong."

Phoenix hesitated at hearing the pleading tone in Iris's voice. A silence fell between them as the waiter arrived with their meals giving Phoenix some much needed time to think. As much as he hated keeping secrets from Iris, how could he possibly explain everything he was feeling to anyone? The nagging doubts he felt about the forged ace, the sadness from being unable to prevent the deaths of Zak Gramarye and Drew Misham and the poisoning of Vera, and the dull pain of having his suspicions about Kristoph confirmed. Even though the trial was over, things still felt far from resolved for him. There was bitter amusement in his eyes as he said, "It's a long story."

"I have time," Iris said, smiling at him. "Please tell me. I want to help."

As he looked into her beautiful, comforting eyes, filled with kindness and understanding he was sure he did not deserve, he could only smile as he came to realize just how lucky he was to have her in his life. A renewed determination to make their relationship work rushed through him as he leaned over the table to kiss her lips. He felt one arm snug around his back and one of her hands pressing gently against the "P" on his sweater.

"I love you," he said softly after their kiss came to an end.

"I love you too," Iris whispered, as she captured his lips in another kiss. "That is something that has never and will never change."

As they settled back into their seats, Phoenix smiled, taking Iris's hand and giving it an affectionate squeeze. Seeing her smile back at him in response, Phoenix relaxed and began to speak, as the necessary words, so hard to find only moments ago, suddenly rose to his lips with surprising ease.

One thing Phoenix had learned long ago was to never overlook opportunities to turn things around, and as he looked at Iris, telling her everything, he vowed silently that he wouldn't let this one pass him by.


End file.
